The step-dad of Matt’s girlfriend Samantha, who was shot but survived, said the family was in “shock and disbelief”.

Alex Sullivan and his wife ­Cassandra were celebrating his 27th birthday with a visit to the cinema. She survived.

He had tweeted, possibly from the cinema, the message: “Oh man one hour till the movie and its going to be the best ­BIRTHDAY ever”. He even had the Batman logo as his profile picture on the social networking website.

His uncle Joe Loewenguth said: “He was a very, very good young man.

“He always had a smile, always made you laugh. He had a little bit of comic in him. Witty, smart. He was loving, had a big heart.”

John Larimer’s family said a Navy notification team arrived at their home to let them officially know that “our 27-year-old son John was, in fact, one of the 12 killed at the theater in Aurora, Colorado.”

They said: “We love you John and we will miss you always.”

Blogger Jessica, who was also known as Jessica Redfield, had recently written about surviving a Toronto shooting.

Brother Jordan Ghawi said her death was a “complete and utter shock”.

Scores of injured victims are now fighting for their lives.

The youngest is just three months old and is said to have been shot in the back at point blank range. Shot heroes save children in a hail of bullets.